The major North American stock market indices closed Friday with gains on
the week, as investors overcame trepidation about the progress of
U.S.-China trade talks. U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that he would
not be meeting with China’s President Xi Xinping before the March 1
deadline for a trade deal. Meanwhile, both the Bank of England and the
European Commission cut growth forecasts for both the U.K. and the eurozone
overall, as uncertainty over Brexit and the slowdown in China’s economic
growth impact the European economy. Canada’s
S&P/TSX Composite Index
gained 0.8% on the week, as financials and industrials helped buoy the
market against a slide in energy issues, facing headwinds from a 4.7% drop
in
crude oil. The U.S. broad blue-chip
S&P 500 Composite Index
closed marginally higher on the week, while the
Nasdaq Composite Index
gained 0.5%.

* RBC pool changes names, managers.
RBC Global Asset Management announced on Feb. 8 that Beutel, Goodman &
Company Ltd. has been appointed as sub-advisor of
RBC Private Canadian Growth & Income Equity Pool
and that the name of the Pool will change to RBC Private Fundamental Canadian Equity Pool, effective
Feb. 27. In a release, RBC said, “The Pool’s new name more clearly
identifies its investment strategy and process. There is no change to the
Pool’s investment objectives.”

* National Bank’s new ETFs debut on TSX.
Four new ETFs from National Bank Investments began trading on the TSX on
Feb. 8. Annamaria Testani, Vice-President, National Sales at National Bank
Investments, said, “We believe our first ETFs provide a compelling way to
gain non-traditional active and alternative niche exposure and diversify
portfolio risk.”

NBI Liquid Alternatives ETF (TSX: NALT)
aims to provide a positive return while maintaining low correlation to, and
lower volatility than, the return of the global equity markets. It holds
long and short positions on financial derivatives that provide exposure to
different major global asset classes, such as government bonds, currencies,
equities or commodities.

The foregoing is for general information purposes only and is the opinion
of the writer. No guarantee of investment performance is made or implied.
It is not intended to provide specific personalized advice including,
without limitation, investment, financial, legal, accounting or tax advice.